ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Defence
Principal Bench of Armed Forces Tribunal initiates hearings of matters pertaining to Regional Benches through video conferencing
Armed Forces Tribunal  Chairperson Justice Rajendra Menon has inaugurated hearings by video conferencing for all ten Regional Benches of the Armed Forces Tribunal here today.
The Principal Bench of Armed Forces Tribunal is the only court that has been conducting physical hearings since June 8, 2020. Physical hearings are being conducted at Principal Bench taking into account hardships and limitations faced by Armed Forces personnel, retired as well as serving, primarily due to their far flung locations and various security related issues.
The Chairperson gives credit of incident free hearings to the Principal Registrar Dr Rakesh Kumar who has been advising on the ways to maintain impeccable hygiene standards at the Principal Bench. The court premises are being sanitised twice daily by the AFT employees only, even prior to declaring of nationwide lockdown. Entry to the court premises is also kept to bare minimum with proper social distancing and without compromising on the smooth work flow. The advocates appearing in the AFT are separated by a transparent sheet, from the judges and proper social distancing is maintained between court staff and judges.
For a total of eleven benches of AFT, which includes Principal Bench and ten Regional Benches spread all over the country, 34 judicial and administrative members have been sanctioned by the Government. However, only four members are presently in the chair at Principal Bench, one judicial member and two administrative members are in the chair at Chandigarh, Mumbai and Chennai Benches respectively.
Even though the urgent applications of Regional Benches were being heard at Principal Bench, the requirement was felt to devise a procedure for hearing other matters of Regional Benches as well. Accordingly, a viable procedure for virtual hearings has been initiated.
With this provision of hearing by video conferencing, an immense relief has been brought to the Armed Forces personnel, whose applications are awaiting justice at various Regional Benches. Member Judicial Justice Mohammad Tahir and Members Administration Vice Admiral P Murugesan  & Lt Gen CA Krishnan  shall hear applications of the Regional Benches through video conferencing.
ABB/Nampi/KA/DK/Savvy/ADA
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Ministry of Steel
Existing Steel Based Industries in the Country
The total number of steel based industries in the country in 2018-19 stood at 1217. State-wise details of existing steel industries are given at Annexure-I.
Details of import & export of raw steel and steel products during last three years are given below:-
|
|
Year
|
|
Raw Steel & Steel Products 
|
|
Import
|
|
Export
|
|
Chapter 72 & 73
|
|
2016-17
|
|
15.31
|
|
17.59
|
|
2017-18
|
|
15.73
|
|
19.69
|
|
2018-19
|
|
17.97
|
|
15.90
|
|
Source: Department of Commerce
The production of iron ore in the country is sufficient to meet the current demand/consumption by domestic steel industry. However, the entire demand of coking coal is not met from the domestic production as the supply of coking coal in the country is limited and thus no option is left but to resort to import of coking coal.
The supply of iron ore during last year i.e. 2018-19 was 207.7 MT against its demand of 189 MT. During 2018-19 the total demand of coking coal for steel industry was 58.37 MT. Out of this 51.83 MT  were met through imports and 1.6 MT was provided by Bharat Coking Coal Limited  and Coal India Limited  and remaining was catered by Steel Authority of India Limited  and TATA Steel.
Annexure-I
State-Wise details of steel plants  functioning in the country during 2018-19
|
|
STATE
|
|
UNITS
|
|
ANDHRA PRADESH
|
|
28
|
|
ARUNANCHAL PRADESH
|
|
3
|
|
ASSAM
|
|
4
|
|
BIHAR
|
|
21
|
|
CHANDIGARH
|
|
3
|
|
CHATTISGARH
|
|
108
|
|
DADRA AND NAGAR HAVELI
|
|
5
|
|
DELHI
|
|
2
|
|
GOA
|
|
9
|
|
GUJARAT
|
|
112
|
|
HARYANA
|
|
17
|
|
HIMANCHAL PRADESH
|
|
18
|
|
JAMMU AND KASHMIR
|
|
17
|
|
JHARKHAND
|
|
46
|
|
KARNATAKA
|
|
19
|
|
KERALA
|
|
30
|
|
MADHYA PRADESH
|
|
33
|
|
MAHARASHTRA
|
|
105
|
|
MEGHALAYA
|
|
5
|
|
ODISHA
|
|
44
|
|
PUDUCHERRY
|
|
9
|
|
PUNJAB
|
|
232
|
|
RAJASTHAN
|
|
64
|
|
TAMIL NADU
|
|
82
|
|
TELANGANA
|
|
54
|
|
TRIPURA
|
|
1
|
|
UTTAR PRADESH
|
|
80
|
|
UTTARAKHAND
|
|
8
|
|
WEST BENGAL
|
|
58
|
|
Total
|
|
1217
Source: Joint Plant Committee 
This information was given by the Union Minister of Steel Shri Dharmendra Pradhan in the Rajya Sabha today in a written reply.
Ministry of Micro,Small & Medium Enterprises
Union Minister Shri Nitin Gadkari Launches the Sale of Khadi Rumal, Made By Militancy Affected Women of J&K
Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Shri Nitin Gadkari, launched here today the sale of Khadi Rumal, in the presence of Shri VK Saxena, Chairman, Khadi and Village Industries Commission .
Few years back, struggling to sustain their existence, families of militancy affected areas of Kashmir shifted to Nagrota, a small town near Jammu. In 2016, KVIC started a napkin stitching center in Nagrota, for the women impacted by the lack of livelihood opportunities and unemployment, to help them become self-dependent and sustain their families.
Speaking about the initiative, Shri Nitin Gadkari said, "This initiative of KVIC is the true reflection of Bapu's vision of empowering the weakest of the society, and an appeal to the people to support this unique initiative which is creating jobs for needy."
Chairman, KVIC, Shri VK Saxena said, “This ‘Khadi Rumal’ is not just a piece of cloth, but a symbol of trust that the women in militancy affected areas residing in Nagrota, have on the people of India to enable them and empower them to live a life of dignity and respect. The sale of this ‘Khadi Rumal’ will instill confidence and enable the women all over Kashmir to come out and stand for themselves, earn a respectful livelihood and take care of their families. Its time for India to unite and help the cause.”
Shri Saxena further said, “We have targeted to sell 5 Crore pieces of Khadi Rumal initially. To create 5 Crore pieces of Khadi Rumal, around 15 Lakh Kgs of cotton will be consumed, and it will require 25 lakh man-days of spinning, 12.5 lakh man-days of weaving and around 7.5 lakh man-days required for cutting, stitching and packing of Khadi Rumal. Thus creating 44 lakh man-days of livelihood yielding wages amounting to Rs. 88 Crores for various artisans. A humble contribution of the citizens of India could be a stepping stone for the beginning of the ‘Journey of Transformation’. It is an opportunity where every Indian citizen can be a part of Nation Building, a part of empowering the women artisans of Nagrota, and all those women of Kashmir too, who are still in line and looking forward to joining this journey of transformation. This shall be the real tribute to Bapu on his 150th birth anniversary.”
The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has already appealed the people to buy at least one Khadi Rumal. White Khadi Rumal, made of pure cotton, will be sold across various Khadi outlets in India. To increase the outreach and availability of these Rumals through digital platform, KVIC has also signed an agreement with Paytm today, which has committed to sell 2 Crore packets of Khadi Rumal through its online/offline platforms and mobile application.
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Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas
Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Housing and Urban Affairs Shri Hardeep S. Puri to visit ADIPEC-2022, UAE on 31st October 2022
Shri Hardeep S. Puri, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Housing and Urban Affairs will visit UAE from 31st October 2022, to attend the Opening Ceremony of the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference  on the invitation of H.E. Suhail Mohamed Faraj Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, UAE and H.E. Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry & Advanced Technology UAE & Managing Director and Group CEO Abu Dhabi National Oil Company .
During the visit, the Minister will deliver his special remarks at the inaugural ceremony of ADIPEC-2022 along with the hosting Ministers ie H.E. Dr. Sultan Ahmad Al Jaber, Minister of Industry & Advanced Technology UAE, MD & Group CEO, ADNOC and H.E. Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei - Minister of Energy and Infrastructure UAE, and few select other Ministers: H.E Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud - Minister of Energy of Saudi Arabia, H.E. Haitham Al Ghais - Secretary General OPEC, and H.E. Tarek El Molla - Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources Egypt.
Hon’ble Minister is scheduled to have bilateral discussions with his counterparts from UAE, H.E. Suhail Mohamed Faraj Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, and H.E. Dr. Sultan Ahmad Al Jaber, Minister of Industry & Advanced Technology, MD & Group CEO, ADNOC, to strengthen energy cooperation within the overall framework of India-UAE Strategic Partnership.
Hon’ble Minister will also have meetings with his counterparts from various countries and Heads of international energy organizations and CEOs of global oil & gas companies, who are attending the ADIPEC- 2022.
During the event, Hon’ble Minister will also inaugurate the India Pavilion, set up jointly by Federation of Indian Petroleum Industry  and Confederation of Indian Industry .
Hosted by ADNOC, ADIPEC is one the world's leading events of the energy industry and aims to provide insights on the latest trends affecting an evolving global energy system including the global economy, energy supply and security challenges, as well as next generation of energy solutions.
AYUSH
Ministry of AYUSH and AIIMS decides to work together to set up a Department of Integrative Medicine
Ministry of AYUSH and AIIMS have decided to initiate work on setting up a Department of Integrative Medicine at AIIMS. This was decided in a joint visit and review by Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, AYUSH and Dr. Randeep Guleria, Director, AIIMS of the Centre for Integrative Medicine and Research  at AIIMS, New Delhi. The CIMR receives notable support through the Centre of Excellence Scheme of the Ministry of AYUSH.
Dr. Gautam Sharma, Head, CIMR and senior officers of AYUSH Ministry were also present during the visit. The cutting edge research activities being held by CIMR in the Yoga and Ayurveda disciplines were reviewed and the research outcomes were seen to be impressive. Ministry of AYUSH and AIIMS decided to extend the duration of the research collaboration at CIMR and also to extend the scope of collaborative activities.
Considering the research work, other activities and accomplishments of CIMR, it was felt that setting up a dedicated OPD and IPD beds for CIMR could be the next steps in the growth and development of CIMR. Both Secretary AYUSH and Director AIIMS agreed that considering the increased interest of patients at AIIMS in the CIMR and the growing body of research work of the Centre it could be feasible to further develop it into a standalone Department for Integrative Medicine at AIIMS in the short-term future. This may be developed with dedicated faculty and staff to make it into a permanent Department at AIIMS.
Secretary AYUSH assured that the Ministry of AYUSH will strive to continue its support to CIMR till the dedicated Department is developed. The notable research outcomes of CIMR and the encouraging results of the new initiatives in COVID 19 research through integrative research point towards an integrative approach being the need of the hour and towards the significant public health benefits it can lead to.
It was decided that CIMR, AIIMS may develop an integrated protocol with Ayurveda and Yoga for study on Post COVID treatment. The Ministry of AYUSH could collaborate in the same through the Extra Mural Research Scheme.
The progress in establishing the Integrated AYUSH cancer care facilities at the National Cancer Institute at Jhajjar, Haryana was also reviewed. It was decided to follow it up and expedite the process for early establishment and functioning of the center.
The team of senior functionaries visited CIMR and also attended a presentation on COVID 19 research works at the CIMR. Secretary AYUSH and Director AIIMS complemented the CIMR staff for developing it as a state of the art research unit and producing high quality treatment and research outcomes.
Cabinet
Cabinet approves additional 2% Dearness Allowance / Dearness Relief due from January, 2017
Cabinet approves additional 2% Dearness Allowance / Dearness Relief due from January, 2017
 to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief  to pensioners w.e.f. 01.01.2017. It has increased by 2% over the existing rate of 2% of the Basic Pay/Pension, to compensate for price rise.
This increase is in accordance with the accepted formula, which is based on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission.
The combined impact on the exchequer on account of both Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief would be Rs. 5,857.28 crore per annum and Rs.6,833.50 crore in the Financial Year 2017-18 .
This will benefit about 48.85 lakh Central Government employees and 55.51 lakh pensioners.
Ministry of Finance
Over 2 crore Income Tax Returns filed on the e-Filing portal of the Income Tax Department
The e-filing portal of the Income Tax Department  has marked receipt of more than 2 crore Income Tax returns as on 13th October 2021. The new portal was launched on 7th June, 2021 and in the initial period taxpayers had reported glitches and difficulties in the functioning of the portal. A number of technical issues have since been resolved and the performance of the portal has substantially stabilized.
Over 13.44 crore unique taxpayers have logged in till 13th October, 2021. Approximately 54.70 lakh taxpayers have availed of ‘forgot password’ facility to obtain their passwords.
All Income Tax Returns have been made available for e-filing. More than 2 crore ITRs for AY 2021-22 have been filed on the portal, of which ITRs 1 & 4 constitute 86%. It is encouraging to note that more than 1.70 crore returns have been e-verified, out of which 1.49 crore are through Aadhaar based OTP. The process of e-verification through Aadhaar OTP and other methods is important for the Department to commence processing of the ITR and to issue refunds, if any.
Of the verified ITRs 1 & 4, over 1.06 crore ITRs have been processed and over 36.22 lakh refunds for AY 2021-22 have been issued. Processing of ITRs 2 & 3 will be taken up shortly.
The Digital Signature  registration of non-residents has been enabled and overall 4.87 lakh DSCs have been registered. In the simplified process of DSC registration any individual has to register his DSC only once and can use it across any entity where the individual is a partner, director etc without having to re-register again against each entity or role.
Over 15.72 lakh Statutory Forms have been submitted including 9.08 lakh TDS statements, 1.29 lakh Form 10A for registration of Trusts/institutions, 1.98 lakh Form 10E for arrears of salary, 23,920 Form 35 pertaining to filing of Appeal and 22,075 DTVSV Form 4 till 13th October, 2021. In response to feedback from taxpayers, the submission process of 15CA and 15CB forms required for foreign remittances has been revamped. Over 1.83 lakh 15CA and 37,870 15CB forms have been filed. More than 21.40 lakh e-PANs have been allotted online free of cost. The Legal Heir functionality has been enabled for registrations and compliance
Further, e-proceedings and faceless proceedings have been enabled with functionalities including video conferencing for assessment and seeking adjournments or appointment and filings by Authorized Representatives. Taxpayers have been able to view over 12.20 lakh Notices issued by the Department under the Faceless Assessment/Appeal/Penalty proceedings, to which over 6.24 lakh responses have been filed.
The Income Tax Department strongly urges all taxpayers to view their Form 26AS through the e-filing portal to verify the accuracy of the TDS and Tax Payments and avail of pre-filling of ITRs.
All taxpayers who are yet to file their Income Tax returns for AY 2021-22 are requested to file their returns at the earliest.
Ministry of Home Affairs
Vinod Karthik new DIG of CRPF Pallipuram Group Centre
Shri Vinod Karthik has taken charge as DIG, Group Centre, CRPF Pallipuram, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Prior to this he was working as DIGP in Bhubaneswar, Odisha Sector. The officer had joined CRPF as Asst. Commandant in 1994 and served in different parts of the country. He belongs to Alappuzha District.
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Prime Minister's Office
PM announces ex gratia for the next of kin of those killed and seriously injured, in the bus accident in HP, from PMNRF
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, has announced ex gratia of Rs. 2 lakhs for the next of kin of those killed, and Rs. 50,000 for those seriously injured, in the bus accident near Shimla in Himachal Pradesh, from PMNRF.
Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas
Petroleum Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan and MP Chief Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan inaugurate the 200 oxygenated bed COVID Hospital at Bina in Sagar district;
Foundation stone for Oxygen Bottling and refilling plant laid which will cater to the oxygen requirement of surrounding district hospitals
Union Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gasand Steel Shri Dharmendra Pradhan and Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan today inaugurated the temporary COVID Hospital at Bina in Sagar district of the state. The 200 Oxygenated bed jumbo Covid-19 care facility has come up near BPCL’s Bina refinery, for which Oxygen is provided by Bharat Oman Refineries Limited, a 100% subsidiary of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited .
A Vaccination centre was also inaugurated on this occasionwhich is being set up by BORL for providing vaccination to all frontline workers and their families without any cost. BORL has taken initiative of providing vaccination to all contract workers working in the refinery and front line workers.
Both the dignitaries also laid foundation stone for Oxygen Bottling and refilling plant. The plant will have capacity to bottle about 25 T/Day of oxygen  and will cater to the oxygen requirement of surrounding district hospitals.
Ministers in the state of MP Shri Gopal Bhargav, Shri Bhuppendra Singh, Shri Govind Singh Rajput, Dr Arvind Singh Bhadoria, MP from Sagar Shri Rajbahadur Singh, Bina MLA Shri Mahesh Rai were among those present on the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion,Shri Dharmendra Pradhan said that Bina refinery will support the hospital by diverting 10 ton per day of gaseous oxygen of 90% purity and supplying 4 lakh litres of drinking water per day. Lauding the BPCL’s efforts, he said that Bina refinery is committed to strengthen the overall preparedness of the hospital for combating Covid-19 effectively.
Congratulating the Chief Minister and his team for the Covid management model of the state in controlling the pandemic, Shri Pradhan said that in 50 districts of MP the positivity rate has fallen below 1%..Calling the Covid-19 pandemic as once in a century crisis, he said that the Government of India is taking relentless efforts to fight against the second surge of COVID 19 and save lives under the leadership of hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.He said that Vaccination is the best option to protect from the Covid, and also prevent its third wave in the country. The Free Vaccine for All campaign will be launched from 21st June. He said that there will ne shortage of vaccines in the country soon.
Ministry of Culture
Prime Minister attends commemoration of 75th Anniversary of Formation of Azad Hind Government
Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today, hoisted the National Flag at Red Fort and unveiled the plaque to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of formation of Azad Hind Government, formed by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. The commemoration of this significant historical event was also attended by Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Culture, Shri Chandra Kumar Bose, nephew of Netaji, Shri Lalti Ram, INA Veteran and Brig. R.S. Chikkara.
Prime Minister congratulated the nation on the proud occasion of 75thanniversary of formation of Azad Hind Government. Speaking on the occasion, he said that Azad Hind government represented the vision laid down by Subhas Chandra Bose, of a strong undivided India. He added that Azad Hind government was actively involved in nation building and had even started its own bank, currency and stamps.
Recalling the contributions of Netaji, Prime Minister said that Subhas Chandra Bose was a visionary, who united Indians to fight against the powerful colonial British rule. He added that Bose showed patriotism right from a young age, as was visible from the letters he wrote to his mother.
Shri Narendra Modi said that Netaji was not just an inspiration for Indians, but for all those who were fighting for self-determination and freedom in countries all over the world. In this context he mentioned how South African leader Nelson Mandela was inspired by Netaji.
Reminding the nation that there is a long way to go before building a new India as envisioned by Subhas Chandra Bose, Prime Minister urged the citizens to get inspired by Netaji and work towards the development of the nation. He added that India achieved independence after lots of sacrifices and it is the duty of citizens to preserve that independence.
Shri Narendra Modi recalled that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose laid down the foundation for equal opportunity for women in armed forces, through the formation of Rani Jhansi Regiment. Prime Minister said that the government is carrying forward this legacy in true means and reiterated that women will be given equal opportunity for permanent commission in armed forces.
The Prime Minister also reiterated that he had earlier announced an award in the name of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, to honour those involved in disaster response operations. The award would be given every year, recognizing the bravery and courage displayed in saving lives of people, in the wake of a disaster, he added.
Earlier delivering the Welcome address Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Culture  said that the nation salutes Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose whose supreme sacrifice and leadership continues to guide our young generation. He thanked the able leadership of the Prime Minister for making this Event a success.
KSP/PS
Ministry of Communications
Cabinet approves Memorandum of Cooperation between India and Japan on cooperation in the field of Information and Communication Technologies
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for signing Memorandum of Cooperation  between India and Japan on bilateral cooperation in the field of Information and Communication Technologies .
The MoC will contribute in strengthening bilateral cooperation and mutual understanding in the field of communications and will serve as a strategic initiative for India as Japan is an important partner with “Special Strategic and Global Partnership” status.
The MoC will help in cooperation between two countries in various fields like 5G network, telecom security, Submarine cable, standard certification of communication equipment, utilization of latest Wireless Technologies and ICTs, ICTs capacity building, Public Protection and Disaster Relief, Artificial Intelligence  / Block Chain, Spectrum Chain, Spectrum Management, Cooperation on Multilateral platforms etc.
The MoC will further enhance opportunities for India to get into global standardization process. Cooperation in ICTs technologies will help in strengthening ICTs infrastructure in the country. Cooperation in the development of future submarine cable networks and technologies will help in boosting connectivity of mainland India to remote areas. The MoC aims to promote human capacity building in field of ICTs and further development of startup ecosystem which will contribute in realizing the objectives of Atmanirbhar Bharat.